Means for slidingly supporting folding doors



June 10 E. J. G. PHILLIPS MEANS FOR SLIDINGLY SUPPORTING FOLDING DOORSFiled April 23 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. J. G. PHILLIPS MEANS FORSLIDINGLY SUPPORTING FOLDING DOORS Filed April 23 1923 June 10 a a 1% ey 2 a a; m

Patented .Ile llO, l

nrr' res head ELLIS J'. G. PHILLIPS, 0F AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TORICHARDS-WILCOX MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, O F AURORA, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR SLIEDINGLY SUPPORTING FOLDING DOORS.

Application filed April 23, 1923. Serial No. 634,021.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIs J. G. PHILLIPS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means forSlidingly Supporting Folding Doors, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that type of.closure for a wide doorwaycomprising a plurality of sets of doors, the members of each set beinghinged together and the outer one of each set being hinged to asupportlat the side of the doorway while the inner member is connectedby a suitable hanger with an overhead track that extends from thecentral portion of the doorway diagonally into the room from which thedoorway leads. Such a construction is shown and described in LettersPatent No. 1,160,198, dated November 16, 1915, granted upon myapplication. My present invention is an improvement upon theconstruction set forth in that patent, and it has for its leadingobjects to provide improved means for adjustably holding the overheadtrack sections at the desired inclination; to provide improved means forclamping such track sections firmly to their supporting devices; toprovide improved means for vertically adjusting the track-supportingdevices, and

' to improve generally the construction and operation of devices of thegeneral character referred to. These objects I. accomplish by theconstruction and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings andhereinafter de-.

' scribed. .That which I believe to be new will be set forth in theclaims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a view in elevation, and from I the inside ofa building, of two-sets of two Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detailshow ing one of the supporting devices for an outer end portion of atrack and its manner of attachment to a wall at oneside of a doorway,and showing also a track-brackbut showing, respectively, intermediateand inner supporting devices for the track; and Fig. 6 is a verticalsection at line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings,-1O and 11 indicate twodoors hinged together by hinges 12, and the door 10 being secured byhinges 13 to the framework A surrounding a large doorway, which saidtwo" doors and other similar doors are adapted to close. The other doorsreferred to are indicated, respectively, by 14; and 15, they beinghinged together at'16, and the outer one of such two doors being securedto the framework A by hinges 17 While but four doors are'shown, it is tobe understood that a greater number. may be employed,.

but in such case the outer door of each set will be hinged to theframework in the manthere is provided a track section, and to the innerdoor of each set is secured a hanger bracket 18 with which will beconnected the pendant 19 of an ordinary door hanger, the wheels of whichare adapted to run on the track provided for it'- The attachment of thehanger to the door will be adjacent to the inner edge of the door, andby that is meant that edge that is at the center of the doorway when thedoors are in closing position, as in Fig. 1.

The track section that is provided for use in connection with each setof doors is of ordinary form as here shown, it being formed of a pieceof sheet metal bent u on itself to form a top wall and two para lel sidewalls that have their marginal portions inturned to form tracks for thetrolley wheels to run upon. Each track section is here indicated by 20,and it is engaged at intervals by track brackets 21 to which thesupportin devices are connected. track brac ets are of the same gleneralshape as the track that they surroun These but are of greater height, asthe drawings show, so as to leave a considerable space between the topwall of the track and the top wall of the track bracket.

Each section of track, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, extends from itsinner end in a diagonal direction back from the wall in which is formedthe doorway that isclosed by the doors. The supporting means connectedwith the wall and engaging the track brackets are, therefore,necessarily of different lengths. Three of these supporting devices foreach track section are shown, and the shorter one which projects outfrom about the center of the doorway is indicated by 22, and is shown(see Fig. 5) as an L- shaped arm,-the vertical member of which is boltedto the doorway frame and the other member of which projects over theinner end of the track section and is secured to the track bracket 21that at that point surrounds the track. As shown, the horizontal memberof this inner bracket 22 has secured in it a bushing 23 which alsopasses through the upper wall of the adjacent track bracket21. The lowerportion of the bushing is enlarged to form a head 23, and it is upon theshoulder formed by the production of thishead that the track bracketrests. A screw 24 passing down through the bushing projects freelythrough a hole 25 in the top wall of the track and thus acts to reventany creeping or lateral movement of the track, but not preventing thebracket from being turned on the sup porting bushing.

The supporting member for the outer end of each track section isin theform of a comparatively long arm 26 preferably formed of a heavy pieceof sheet metal. It has its marginal portions turned to form flanges 27(see Fig. 6) so that said arm is of channel shape. The arm is ofsufficient width so as to receive between its flanges 27 one of thetrack brackets 21, as best shown in Fig. 6', and in that-position theedge of the flanges 27 will, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, rest upon theupper wall of the track section 20. In the upper wall of the arm 26 area number of holes 28 through any one of which is adapted to be passed abolt29, which also passes through a hole in the adjacent trackbracketthe head of such bolt bearing against the under surface of theupper wall of such track bracket. Upon the projecting end of this boltis screwed a nut'30, and it is evident that by tightening up such nutthe flanges 27 of the arm will beforced very tightly against the trackaswell as causing the turned marginal portions of the bracket thatunderlie the rail members of the track to be pulled tightly against suchrail members. Such setting of the parts by proper adjustment of the nutwill, therefore, hold the track at this point very rigidly in place. Aswill menace be understood, the bolt will be passed through that one ofthe holes 28 in the arm which willsecure the desired angle at which thetrack section is desired to be set. This arm is designed to be pivotallyattached to the wall of the building at one side of the doorway so thatit may be swung laterally as desired to accommodate itself to 'theinclination at which the track section that it supports is adjusted, andto that end I provide it with a head at its inner end through which apivot pin passes that also passes through suitable securing devicesfastened to such wall. Owing to the comparatively long distance from thewall that this outer arm is to project, and owing also to the veryconsiderable weight that is imposed upon it when the doors are opened,as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, prefer to make this head, hereindicated by 31, in the form of aheavy casting that has wideforwardly-projecting wings 32 that extend alongside of the arm 26 andare riveted as shown at 33 to the downturned sides or flanges 27 of sucharm. The pivot by which this head is attached in place is indicated by34, and as shown it passes freely through lugs 35, 35 and 35 thatproject rearwardly from it, the said pivot bolt also passing throughbracket members 36 and 37 of a wall bracket and being secured in placeby a nut 38. Interposed between two of the lugs referred to- 35 and 35in the construction shownis a nut 39 that is screwed u on the pivotbolt, and it is evident that a ter the nut 38 has been loosenedsufficiently the pivot bolt can be turned, and as the nut 39 thereonwill, when the bolt is turned, be also slightly turned and thus bebrought into contact with the face of the wall bracket, the edect ofsuch turning of the bolt will be to cause a vertical adjustment of thesupporting arm 26, and thereby enable the end of the track that itsupports to be moved as required to properly position the track sectionconnected with it.

In addition to the supports at each end of each track section llpreferably provide an intermediate support. Such intermediate support isshown as an arm- 46 that is in most respects like the longer arm 26, butmaslltl) much as this intermediate arm is necessarily shorter and notsubjected to the same heavy strain of such longer arm ll do not deem itnecessary to make it of two pieces riveted together asin such other arm.This intermediate" arm may well be made of a single malleable casting,but it, like the longer arm, will be provided with downturned flangesthat will bear against the upper wall of the track, such flanges beingindicated by M, and, as in the case of'the other arm, bein of a widthsuficient to hold the central web of the arm at a little distance abovethe we required angle.

of the bracket that such arm connects with. This arm 40 will also beprovided with a plurality of holes, indicated by 42, and which will bepreferably in the form of slots so as to permit an adjustment of thetrack to any This intermediate arm is provided with a head portion 43from which extend lugs 44, 44*, and 44*, between which last two lugs isan adjusting nut 45 on a pivot bolt 46 that also passes through fixedbracket members 47, 48 and is secured in place'by a nut 49 on its end.The bolt that attaches the forward end of this arm 40 to one of thebrackets is indicated by 50 and the nut thereon by 51.

From the description given it will be evident that each of the tracksections 20 can be similarly adjusted to stand at any required anglefrom the plane of the doorway, and that in any one of their adjustedpositions they will be very firmly held, and if at any time a slightvertical adjustment is required that can be effected by a turning of thenuts 39 and 45 on the outer and intermediate arms respectively.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of an overhead track, means for supporting the trackin place, said means comprising a bracket partially embracing the track,an arm extending over said bracket and having a downwardly-extendingflange that rests upon the track, and means for connecting said arm andbracket together and forcing said arm and track into close engagement.

2. The combination of an overhead track, means for supporting the trackin place, said means comprising a bracket partially embracing the track,a channel-shaped arm extending over said bracket and with its side wallsprojecting-down at opposite ends of the bracket and resting upon thetrack, and means for connecting said arm and bracket together andforcing said arm and track into close engagement.

3. The combination of an overhead track, means for pivo-tally attachingone end portion of such track to a fixed support to permit the track tobe turned at an angle to the plane of a doorway, a bracket partiallyembracing the other end portion of said track, a track-supporting armextending over said bracket and resting upon said track, and means forconnecting said arm and bracket together and forcing said arm and trackinto close engagement.

4. The combination of an overhead track, brackets partially embracingsaid track, an arm projecting over one end portion of the track, abushing secured in said arm and extending through the upper wall of oneof said brackets and provided with a shoulder for engaging and pivotallysupporting such bracket, a device passing through said bushing andengaging with said track, and means for engaging the other end portionof the track for holding it in different laterally adjusted positions.

5. The combination of an overhead track, means for supporting it inplace, said means comprising an arm to the outer end of which the trackis adapted to be connected, spaced lugs at the inner end of said arm,bracket members between which said lugs extend, a bolt passing throughsaid bracket members and lugs, and a nut mounted on said bolt betweentwo of said lugs for causing a vertical adjustment of said arm when saidbolt is turned.

ELLIS J. G. PHILLIPS.

